Weekly Racing Recap for Monday, Dec. 15, 2008

It was a weekend of cross country action world-wide: America's best prep athletes lined up Saturday in San Diego for Foot Locker, while club runners braved a cold wind in Spokane, Washington and Europe's fastest tried to break Sergey Lebid's dominant run at the European XC championships. Plus, bad weather at the Honolulu Marathon.

Solomon Haile and Jordan Hasay won the 30th Footlocker Cross Country Championships at Balboa Park in San Diego. Haile and Hasay were victorious in notably different fashions: in his first Foot Locker final, Haile ran away from the boys field just past two miles and cruised home for a comfortable 7-second win; Hasay, the 2005 champion and a four-time Footlocker veteran, only led Saturday's race as she kicked to victory over the closing 100 meters.

The girls race promised to thrill even before the field of 40 lined up at Balboa. Hasay, a precocious winner as a freshman three years ago, was joined by Ashley Brasovan, the defending champion, and Kathy Kroeger, who won in 2006. Each girl is a senior, and it was the first time three former champions had found themselves in the same Footlocker race. Ultimately, though, it was an upstart from Colorado named Allie McLaughlin who staged the day's most compelling drama: McLaughlin, in her first full year as a runner, pushed aggressively from the gun and built a 10 second lead by the mile mark. She held that lead until just past three miles, when Brasovan charged by in what looked like the race's decisive move. Hasay, who with Brasovan had stalked McLaughlin over the last mile, came out of nowhere and charged into the lead for a 3-second victory with no more than 100 meters of race remaining. Hasay and Brasovan led two more girls past McLaughlin, who was fifth by the finish. 2006 champ Kroeger never challenged up front but still finished a highly respectably 6th place. Video highlights are available here.

The boys race was almost mundane by comparison. Haile, who has dismantled high school fields all fall, entered the race as the odds-on favorite and won gracefully. The Ethiopian native remained with the field for over a mile before taking charge around halfway and then gapping second-place finisher Trevor Dunbar just past two miles. Haile was the subject of a Washington Post profile last month that examined concerns over his age and amateur status. Dunbar, the Alaskan star, improved from his 3rd place showing at the West regional meet last week. Boys video here.

European Cross Country

In Brussels, Belgium, Ukranian cross-country specialist Sergey Lebid won his 8th European crown and Hilda Kibet took her first major title as a Dutch citizen since trading in her Kenyan passport a year ago.

Lebid has dominated the European cross-country circuit since he won his first title in 1998, but this year faced a stiff challenge from British Olympian Mo Farah. Lebid was down in fourth place with 600 meters to go before surging past Farah, a 13:07 5000m man. His 8th victory gives him claim to over half of the 14 European mens cross-country titles ever awarded. He has not yet decided whether to run World Cross Country in Amman, Jordan, in March.

Kibet bested Olympic steeple champ Gulnara Galkina from Russia, whom some observers expected to contend for the win (she was 12th). Kibet, with Portuguese runner Jessica Augusto and Irishwoman Mary Cullen, lead most of the race before pulling away in the 4th kilometer. Cullen, a former NCAA 5000m champion for Providence College, finished 4th.

Besides Cullen, a slew of American-based Europeans competed Sunday in Brussels: Dutchwoman Susan Kuijken, 2nd at NCAA cross this fall for Florida State, won the womens under-23 race; Andrew Ledwith, who was 3rd in Terre Haute last month, was 37th in the senior mens race, and two other former Providence stars, Martin Fagan and Mark Carroll, were 24th and 42nd for Ireland. Butler runner Scott Overall was 39th for Great Britian.

In the junior race, the British girls were phenomenal: led by Stephanie Twell, British runners swept the first six positions. Full results for all divisions are available here.

Club Nationals

On a bitter cold day in Spokane, Washington on Saturday, Scott Bauhs kept his 2008 fall campaign alive for one more race to win the USATF Club Cross Championships. Rebecca Donaghue was the womens individual champion. McMillian Elite won the mens team title over the Bowerman Athletic Club and Boulder Running Company beat a New Balance Boston squad that put three women in the top six.

Bauhs was the Division II national cross-country champion for Chico State in November before turning pro. On Saturday, he competed for the Transports Adidas Racing Team and edged out Andrew Carlson, who runs for the Flagstaff, AZ-based McMillian Elite group. Bauhs, a 27:48 10,000m runner, has had an unbeaten fall and expects to sign a shoe deal by the end of the year.

Donaghue, a State College, PA resident who competes for New Balance Boston, won her first national championship over Toni Salucci. Donaghue's Boston team was stellar up front but not deep enough to hold off Boulder, who won 69-100. Full results are available online from USATF.

Honolulu Marathon

Patrick Ivuti and Kiyoko Shimahara won a rain-soaked Honolulu Marathon on Sunday, the first Honolulu victory for both athletes.

Shimahara bested countrywoman and Second Wind AC teammate Kaori Yoshida in 2:32:26. Yoshida was hired as a pacemaker but evidently had a good day and went the full distance. Shimahara, who was 3rd at the Chicago Marathon in October, won $40,000 for her effort.

Ivuti, the 2007 Chicago Marathon champion, led a group of five Kenyans across the finish line in 2:14:35. He won $40,000 and an additional $2,000 bonus for breaking 2:15. Ivuti's brother-in-law Jimmy Muindi, a six-time winner of this race, was 5th. Kenyans, bad-weather averse by nature, especially dislike running in the rain. "I've never run in such conditions," Ivuti said.